Procedure Overview

What is coronary artery bypass surgery?

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) is a procedure used to treat coronary artery disease in certain circumstances. Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the narrowing of the coronary arteries (the blood vessels that supply oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle), caused by a buildup of fatty material within the walls of the arteries. This buildup causes the inside of the arteries to become rough and narrowed, limiting the supply of oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle.

One way to treat the blocked or narrowed arteries is to bypass the blocked portion of the coronary artery with another piece of blood vessel. Blood vessels, or grafts, used for the bypass procedure may be pieces of a vein taken from the legs or an artery in the chest. One end of the graft is attached above the blockage and the other end is attached below the blockage. Thus, the blood is rerouted around, or bypasses, the blockage through the new graft to reach the heart muscle. This bypass of the blocked coronary artery can be done by performing coronary artery bypass surgery.

Traditionally, in order to bypass the blocked coronary artery in this manner, the chest is opened in the operating room and the heart is stopped for a time so that the surgeon can perform the bypass. In order to open the chest, the breastbone (sternum) is cut in half and spread apart. Once the heart is exposed, tubes are inserted into the heart so that the blood can be pumped through the body during the surgery by a cardiopulmonary bypass machine (heart-lung machine). The bypass machine is necessary to pump blood while the heart is stopped and kept still in order for the surgeon to perform the bypass operation.

While the traditional "open heart" procedure is still performed and often preferred in many situations, newer, less invasive techniques have been developed to bypass blocked coronary arteries. "Off-pump" procedures, in which the heart does not have to be stopped, were developed in the 1990's. Other minimally-invasive procedures, such as key-hole surgery (performed through very small incisions) and robotic procedures (performed with the aid of a moving mechanical device), increasingly are being used.

Two other surgical improvements for persons undergoing CABG are endoscopic vein harvesting and endoscopic radial artery harvesting. In both of these procedures surgeons use an endoscope (thin surgical tube with a light and camera on the end) to locate blood vessels that will be used for bypassing the blocked coronary arteries. Veins are generally harvested from the inner thigh and calf areas of the legs, while the radial artery is harvested from the wrist.

Traditional (open) approaches involve making long surgical incisions down the inner thigh and/or calf. Research comparing traditional approaches with endoscopic methods indicates that patients generally have fewer complications, less leg pain, and shorter hospital stays with the endoscopic harvesting methods. Some persons, however, may not be eligible for these methods because of other health conditions.

Coronary arteries of the heart

To better understand how coronary artery disease affects the heart, a review of basic heart anatomy and function follows.

The heart is basically a pump. The heart is made up of specialized muscle tissue, called the myocardium. The heart's primary function is to pump blood throughout the body, so that the body's tissues can receive oxygen and nutrients and have waste substances taken away.